Summary
- Google Chrome on Android can now generate AI playback similar to NotebookLM’s Audio Overviews for webpages.
- The new feature is part of the latest version of Google Chrome, but is gradually rolling out, meaning it may not be available to you yet.
- To try it out yourself, open a webpage on Chrome, select More, then tap Listen to this page. You should see an AI Playback button.
NoteBookLM is Google’s AI-powered research tool, and one of my favorite features it has is the ability to create Audio Overviews of the material you’re studying. These Audio Overviews work similarly to a podcast, and have two AI-generated hosts discussing the material in a conversational and engaging way. If you’re trying to read through a series of long articles or textbooks, Audio Overviews is a way to make the process more enjoyable, and now it’s making its way to Google Chrome on Android.
With the latest Chrome update on Android (version 140.0.7339.124), Google is rolling out the ability to make an AI-generated Audio Overview of any webpage you’re reading (via Android Authority). The feature works exactly like it does in NoteBookLM. When you enable it, Google’s AI creates a summary of the webpage, which is then read back to you in a podcast-like style.
So if you’re on a long webpage and want it summarized, or just want to listen to an article on the go, Chrome’s new Audio Overview feature will come in handy. However, even if you have the latest Chrome update, the feature may not be available to you yet, as Google is rolling it out gradually to everyone, likely to stamp out any issues before a wider release. It’s also currently only available on the Android app, so if you’re on iOS, you’re out of luck for the time being. With all that in mind, here’s how to check to see if you have it and how to use it.
How to use Audio Overviews in Chrome for Android
You can find it under the Listen to this page feature
If you’d like to test Audio Overviews on Chrome for Android yourself, it’s relatively simple to do so. The first thing you’ll need to do is open a webpage with a chunk of text on it, then tap the More icon (the three dots in the top right of your screen) and select Listen to this page.
By default, Listen to this page simply reads the page aloud to you in full, with no summarization. However, if the new Audio Overview feature is available to you, you’ll be able to tap a button in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen that resembles an audio waveform with a star in it. When you press it, you’ll see “Generating AI playback” appear on your screen, and you’ll be able to listen to the page in an AI-generated podcast-like format that summarizes it for you.
The only real downside is that the AI voices sound quite generic and lack much emotional depth, but I suppose that’s to be expected from AI.
I’ve used NoteBookLM’s Audio Overview feature several times while researching material, and I find it to be the best feature it offers. So, the fact that it’s now available on Chrome is really convenient. The only real downside is that the AI voices sound quite generic and lack emotional depth, but I suppose that is to be expected from AI.
Hopefully, Google will expand this feature to more Android devices soon, and also to iOS, so iPhone users can take advantage of it as well. Is the new Audio Overview feature available for you on Google Chrome for Android? Let us know in the comments below.
